Convertible furniture



April 2, 1957 M. HALBERG ETAL 2,787,008

CONVERTIBLEFURNITURE Filed March 30, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVSNTOK O W. GERIH M. HALBELRQ PLCLAVIR, BACINCINAT'US BY .D-HUR55 ATTORNQYS April 2, 1957 M. HALBERG ETAL CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 30. 1954 United States Patent CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE Application March 30, 1954, Serial No. 419,838

1 Claim. (Cl. -47) This invention relates to convertible furniture which is designed to provide both seating and sleeping accommodation, such as davenports, bed chesterfields and berthable seats for vehicles.

Davenports and other articles of furniture which are convertible from a seat form to a bed form are normally provided with arms for use in the seat form which project above the level of the seat surface. The bed surface is normally produced by lowering the back section of the unit to a horizontal position with its normally forward facing surface disposed in the same horizontal plane as the top surface of the scat section of the unit. The arms therefore project above the bed surface also and since the overall length of the surface between the arms must be at least six feet to accommodate an average person comfortably, a davenport with arms of substantial thickness must be made inconveniently long. A similar prob lem is encountered with arm chairs which are convertible to form a single bed or couch.

Proposals have been madefor lowering the arms by means of mechanisms which are linked to the back or to the seat so as to be conditioned, by the movement of back or seat in converting the unit, to support the arms in either a raised or a lowered position depending on whether the davenport is being converted to the bed form or to the seat form. However, this means that the arms cannot be secured firmly to the unit, thus decreasing their rigidity and strength; and it also means that a large number of moving parts must be provided, leading to much higher manufacturing and maintenance costs.

The normal davenport or like unit is converted from the seat form to bed form by the operation of a hinge mechanism that pivotally connects the back and seat and supports them swingably on a base. The hinge mechanism includes a plate for attachment to the base, two levers pivoted at spaced apart points to this lever supporting plate and also pivoted at spaced-apart points to a hinge plate on the back, one of the pivot points on the back hinge plat-e also providing a hinge connectionto a second hinge plate that is secured to the seat. A brace pivoted to one of these hinge plates is adapted to engage the other hinge plate to hold the assembly rigid and maintain the back in an upright position when the davenport is in its seat form, but by means of a simple latch arrangement the brace is adapted to be disengaged from the other hinge plate to allow the seat to pivot down on the hinge connecting the hinge plates. -When the-unit is to be converted into its bed form, the; back and seatare tilted backand swung forward on the levers so that the seat projects upwardly and the back is in ahorizohtal position, whereupon the latch is actuated'by a slight further movement of the seat so as to release the brace and allow the seat to pivot down on the hinge connecting the hinge plates and to assume a horizontal position on the base in front of the back. To restore the seat form, the front of the seat is lifted to tilt itupward again until the latch is actuated to engage the brace, whereupon the seat is lowered on the hinge and swung backward on the levers to raise the back to its normal upright position.

The object of this invention is to provide a modified hinge mechanism and associated structure which will enable the back and seat to assume an elevated position, with respect to the normal position of the seat, when the back and seat are in the bed position. The result of this arrangement is to provide a higher bed surface, which can be made to assume the same level as the level of the top surface of the arms, so there is no need to lower the arms; the higher bed surface also presents the advantage that it is at almost the same height as a conventional bed and so contrasts strongly with the abnormally low bed surface of conventional davenports.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hinge mechanism and associated structure that may employ some conventional davenport hinge parts and that may be incorporated in a frame structure differing very little from that of a conventional davenport, thus ensuring that manufacturing costs will be relatively low.

These objects are attained by the invention as disclosed in the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings--in which each reference character denotes the same part in all the views Fig. l is a perspective view showing a davenport constructed according to the invention in its seat form.

Fig. 2 is a similar perspective view showing the davenport in its bed form.

Fig. '3 is an end elevation with one arm partly cut away and showing the davenport in its seat form.

Fig. 4 is a similar end elevation showing the davenport in an intermediate stage in its conversion from its seat form to its bed form.

Fig. 5 is a similar end elevation showing the davenport in its bed form. i

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic scale drawing showing in solid and phantom lines respectively the disposition of the supporting lever and hinge assembly when the davenport is in its bed form and in its seat form.

Fig. 7 is a similar end elevation of a davenport constructed according to a modified form of the invention and shown in its bed form.

Pig. 8 is a perspective view showing the modification in the seat front supporting means, the davenport being in an intermediate stage of conversion.

Fig. 9 is an end elevation showing the modified form,

the seat shown in full lines in its seat position and in or the end members 10. The arms are hollow so as to.

provide space within them for moving parts, and within this space at each end of the frame a lever supporting plate 13 is secured to the end member 10.

Pivoted to each of the supporting plates 13 at pivots 14 and 15 are the lower ends of supporting levers 16 and 17 respectively; the other ends of the levers are pivoted at points 18 and 19 respectively to a back hinge plate 29 secured to the end of the back D.

a It will be observed that lever 16 is considerably longer than the lever 17 and that the pivot points 14 and 15 are widely spaced at about the same level; this spacing may be over one-half the length of the front lever and should be materially greater than the spacing of the pivot points 18 and 19 on vtheback hinge plate. In any case,

the dimensions should be such that the pivot point 18 on the back hinge plate is disposed below or near the level of pivot point 19 whenthe davenport is in the seat form-and sufiiciently above the level of the pivotpoint 19 when the davenport is in the bed form (taking into account the spacing of these points), to providethe necessary-change in angle of the'back between the two forms of the davenport; the change in angle of the line joining the pivot points 18 and '19 constitutes the angle of the back to the horizontal in the seat form. The back hinge plate 20 has a flange 20 which aids in securing the bracket to the back.

At-the pivot point 18 the back hinge plate 20 is pivoted .to a seat hinge plate 21 having a flange 21* and secured to the end of the seat C. The back and seat are cut away at their ends to provide space inside the brackets 20 and 21 for the latch 22 pivoted to the scat hinge plate 21 at 23 and formed with an open slot 27; adapted when the davenport is in the seat form to engage a U-shaped stud 24 secured to the back hinge plate 2%; according to conventional practice, the latch carries a gravity-locking pawl which enables the latch to be engaged or disengaged by suitable movements of the seat hinge plate 21. A spring 26 connectingthe plate 13 to the rear lever 17 facilitates the movement of the parts for the conversion from the seat form to the bed form.

Several short supporting legs 27 are secured in a row on the underside of the seat C so as to rest upon the top edge "of the front member 11 when the davenport is in the bed form. The height of these legs is such as to support the front of the scat C at the same height as the back D in the bed form, the back D being supported at this height not only by the supporting levers 16 and 17 but also by the top edge of the rear member 12. In the bed form, the bed surface is therefore supported at the rear by the rear member, in the centre by the supporting levers 16 and 17 and at the front by the legs 27. The amount by which the rear member 12 of the base is higher than the front member 11 is of course the same as the height of the legs 27 (assuming that the seat and back are equal in depth as shown).

The'legs 27 on the bottom of the seat C are disposed so as to be within the base-frame and to avoid contact with the front member 11 when the davenport is in the seat form. in this position the front member 11 of the base frame supports the front of the seat and its height should be such that the seat is disposed at a comfortable angle, taking into account the position of the pivot 18 connecting the rear edge of the seat to the front edge of the back.

Since the upper surfaces of the arms B are normally several inches higher than the upper surface of the seat C in the seat form, the change in level produced by the movement of the levers must amount to about this difference. Furthermore, this change in level must be accomplished by movement of the levers from their position in the seat form to a position of substantial equilibrium at Which there will be resistance against such movement of the levers as would lower the bed surface and as would be caused by the weight of the seat and back'acting on the levers, supplemented by the additional weight of a person or persons resting on the bed surface. The dimentional relationships between the levers and between their points of pivoting must be such that this change in level also produces the requisite change in the angle of the back referred to above. Preferably, when the back is horizontal, the rear supporting lever 17 should be inclined slightly forward, so that pivot 19 is past the top of. its arc of travel, and at that position the rear pivot point 19 on the back hinge plate 20 should approach a position in a direct line between the rear pivot on the supporting plate 13 and the front pivot 18 on thehinge plate 20, so as to'form the apex of an obtuse angle, closely approaching 180 between lever 17 and the line conneetingpoints 19 and 18, as shown in Fig. 6. Further clockwise rotation of the front lever 16 about its base pivot, which would result in legs '27 slipping forward of the front member 11, is prevented by the fact that such movement would increase the distance from base pivot 25 to pivot 19, and such increase is rendered impossible because it is already at its maximum when rear lever 17 is, as stated, substantially in line with pivot 19. For a davenport of the style illustrated, upholstered in the conventional manner, and having arms, seat and back of approximately standard-dimensions, the dimensions of the supporting lever and hinge assembly may be:

Front supporting lever 16-12 inches Rear supporting lever 17-40 inches Distance between the pivot points 14 and 15 on the supporting plates 13-6 4 inches Distance between the pivot points 18 and 19 on the back hinge plate 20-37 inches These dimensions are shown diagrammatically in Fig. 6, where the solid lines denote the bed form and the phantom lines the seat form.

The back is supported securely in its seat position on the levers 16 and '17 by virtue of the locking action of the latch 22.

A modified form of seat support which has the advantage of being collapsible and which may be used instead of the legs 27 is shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9; it comprises folding leg members 28 each pivoted at one end on a pivot 29 to a bracket secured to the underside of the seat C, and all connected together at their other ends by a shoe member 30, which may be integral with the two leg members at its ends. The shoe and leg members maybe constructed of angle-iron for strength. The pivots 29 are so located that the upper ends of the leg and shoe members, by butting against the brackets, provide suitable stops controlling the degree to which the folding seat support will open from the folded position shown in solid lines in Fig. 9. When fully open, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the shoe member 38 will register with the top of the front member 11, and it assumes the open position under the influence of gravity when the seat C is tilted upwardly from its seat position. In order to have the support folded automatically when the davenport is in the seat form, a roller or caster 31 is mounted at the centre 'ofthe shoe member 30 in a suitable bracket 31 and a cross-piece 33, secured within the base framework A, carries a cam 34 adapted to be engaged by the roller 31 when the seat is lowered to its seat position; the contour of the cam is such as to urge the roller 31 toward'the front member 11 of the base, causing the front seat support to fold forward against the underside of the seat. This increases the usable space for storage within the base.

"he foregoing description sets forth the best mode contemplated by the inventors of carrying out their invention, 'but the following claim is intended to cover all useful changes and modifications of the said mode which are within the scope of the invention.

Whatwe claim as our invention is:

A davenport or like berthable seat unit adapted to assume interchangeably aseat form and a bed form, comprising a movable body-supporting element including a back and a seat connected together and each movable from a'seat position to a'horizontal bed position, base members at the ends of the-said element, a pair of levers at each end -of thesaid element including a front lever pivoted to a front base-pivot on one of the base members and to a fixed front back-pivot on the corresponding end of the back and angularly movable around the front baseplvotfrom a rearwardly inclined seat position .to a nearly upright bed position whereby the said element is swingable on the front lever through an arc of movement from a seat position to asubstantially higher bed position, and a shorter rear 'lever pivoted to .a rear base-pivot on the said base member'and a rear'back-pivoton the said end of the back and 'angularly movable around the rear basepivot from a rearwardly inclined seat position to a nearly upright bed position whereby the back is simultaneously tilted on the lever from its seat position inclination to a horizontal bed position inclination, the rear base-pivot being spaced rearwardly of the front base-pivot by a distance greater than that between the said back-pivots, means rigidly connecting the back and the seat in their seat position when the said element is at a relatively low rearward location on its arc of movement, and means additional to the levers supporting the back and the seat in their horizontal bed positions when the said element is at the relatively high location on its arc of movement, the front lever being slightly rearwardly inclined in the bed position and the rear lever being slightly forwardly inclined in the bed position and the rear back-pivot in the bed position being near the line between the rear basepivot and the front back-pivot whereby the said levers provide with the back and base a generally triangular supporting structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

